editorNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94April Fulton is a former editor with NPR's Science Desk and a contributor to The Salt, NPR's Food Blog.NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94April FultonThu, 28 Sep 2017 09:22:12 +0000April Fultonhttp://kwit.org
April FultonNow that the latest GOP health care proposal is being left for dead , you might think that health care reform efforts are over for the near future. But don't dismiss bipartisan efforts already underway that aim to stabilize the insurance market and potentially give states more flexibility in meeting federal standards. That's the sentiment of Bernard Tyson , chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente, which provides health care to 11.8 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Tyson talked with Morning Edition host David Greene this week about what a health care compromise could look like, and how to get there. Tyson dismisses the idea that the insurance exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, are collapsing. While he acknowledges that there have been challenges because of the uncertainties of what requirements will be included in the program next year, and sees the system as vulnerable, "as of right now, no, it's not close to collapsing,Kaiser Permanente CEO Says A Bipartisan Health Bill Is The Best Way Forwardhttp://kwit.org/post/kaiser-permanente-ceo-says-bipartisan-health-bill-best-way-forward
115397 as http://kwit.orgWed, 27 Sep 2017 08:58:00 +0000Kaiser Permanente CEO Says A Bipartisan Health Bill Is The Best Way ForwardApril FultonSpending your own money on health care might mean that you'll be more frugal with it. That's the theory behind health savings accounts, a decades-old GOP concept that's sparking renewed interest on Capitol Hill as Republican lawmakers look for ways to replace the Affordable Care Act. HSAs are like personal savings accounts — with a difference . As with a retirement account, money put into an HSA can be invested, and any growth in the fund accumulates tax-free. Withdrawals can be made at any time, and they are tax-free, too — but the money can be used only to pay for certain medical expenses, such as health insurance deductibles, or for copays for hospital care or a visit to the doctor. Currently, HSAs are only available to people who have high-deductible health plans , meaning they usually pay a few thousand dollars for medical care each year before their insurance kicks in to pay its share. While HSA participation is growing, only about 20 million people out of the 176 million whoThe Perplexing Psychology Of Saving For Health Carehttp://kwit.org/post/perplexing-psychology-saving-health-care
101696 as http://kwit.orgWed, 15 Feb 2017 10:00:00 +0000The Perplexing Psychology Of Saving For Health CareApril FultonMika Peck, a conservation ecologist at England's University of Sussex , was frustrated. He'd been researching and publishing papers for years on the near-extinction of the Ecuadoran brown-headed spider monkey, and not much was happening to change the primate's extremely threatened status. Not much, that is, until he started connecting the monkeys to gourmet chocolate. Both monkeys and cacao flourish in the Chocóan rain forests of northwestern Ecuador (el Chocó)­, part of a rain forest network that runs along the Pacific Coast, from Panama to Peru. El Chocó is home to about two-thirds of the brown-headed spider monkey population, but that population is dwindling. The environmental group Rainforest Trust estimates that there are only about 250 brown-headed spider monkeys left on the planet, making them among the most endangered primates ever recorded. That's because locals in this remote region, trying to earn a living over the past few decades, cut down the trees for lumber that theSave The Monkeys, Save The Trees, Sell The Chocolatehttp://kwit.org/post/save-monkeys-save-trees-sell-chocolate
100686 as http://kwit.orgMon, 30 Jan 2017 18:53:00 +0000Save The Monkeys, Save The Trees, Sell The ChocolateA version of this story first ran in March 2014. The first day of spring is cause for a celebration, especially after the winter many of us have been having. But it's hard to top the 13-day festivities of the Persian New Year, Nowruz. Nowruz, or "new day" in Persian, is an ancient festival that marks the beginning of spring and celebrates the rebirth of nature. And naturally, it has a lot to do with fresh, green foods just beginning to poke out of the ground that remind us winter is not, in fact, eternal. Nowruz begins at the stroke of the vernal equinox, when the sun crosses the equator. This year it came early in the morning of March 20. When the equinox comes, millions of families of Iranian descent gather around a ceremonial table known as the haftseen . (Think colorful, elaborate Day Of The Dead -type altars meet a mashup of Easter and Passover traditions.) Young and old hold hands and count down to the New Year together and cheer Eide Shoma Mobarak, or Happy New Year! TheNowruz: Persian New Year's Table Celebrates Spring Deliciouslyhttp://kwit.org/post/nowruz-persian-new-years-table-celebrates-spring-deliciously
83779 as http://kwit.orgSun, 20 Mar 2016 16:19:00 +0000Nowruz: Persian New Year's Table Celebrates Spring DeliciouslyApril FultonThere's no cocktail more distinctly American than the martini. It's strong, sophisticated and sexy. It's everything we hope to project while ordering one. Baltimore-born satirist H.L. Mencken is said to have called the martini "the only American invention as perfect as the sonnet." But is the martini perfectly American? Maybe not entirely. So in honor of National Martini Day on Wednesday, we decided to dig into the drink's muddled past. The history of the martini is a murky one. As is the case with many alcoholic concoctions through time, things weren't always written down, and memories got fuzzy from drinking a few of them. Many historians follow the martini back to a miner who struck gold in California during the Gold Rush. The story goes that a miner walked into a bar and asked for a special drink to celebrate his new fortune. The bartender threw together what he had on hand — fortified wine (vermouth) and gin, and a few other goodies — and called it a Martinez, after the town inThe Martini: This American Cocktail May Have An International Twisthttp://kwit.org/post/martini-american-cocktail-may-have-international-twist
25922 as http://kwit.orgWed, 19 Jun 2013 15:28:00 +0000The Martini: This American Cocktail May Have An International TwistApril FultonUPDATE at 12:35 p.m., ET, Jan. 17: Many of you wrote in to tell us you were taken aback by Whole Foods top executive John Mackey characterizing the health law as fascism in an NPR interview, and apparently, he's feeling a little sheepish. About three minutes into his otherwise amiable chat with CBS This Morning hosts on on Thursday, Mackey walked back his comments in response to a direct question from Norah O'Donnell: "Well, I think that was a bad choice of words on my part ... that word has an association with of course dictatorships in the 20th century like Germany and Spain, and Italy. What I know is that we no longer have free enterprise capitalism in health care, it's not a system any longer where people are able to innovate, it's not based on voluntary exchange. The government is directing it. So we need a new word for it. I don't know what they right word is," Mackey says. Part 1 of his interview with Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep is linked above, and you can hear him discussWhole Foods Founder John Mackey On Fascism And 'Conscious Capitalism'http://kwit.org/post/whole-foods-founder-john-mackey-fascism-and-conscious-capitalism
19065 as http://kwit.orgWed, 16 Jan 2013 08:04:00 +0000Whole Foods Founder John Mackey On Fascism And 'Conscious Capitalism'April FultonThe food world is buzzing today about the latest news on just how often we waste perfectly good food. And we admit, the statistics are pretty depressing. About 40 percent of food in the United States today goes uneaten. The average American consumer wastes 10 times as much food as someone in Southeast Asia — up 50 percent from Americans in the 1970s. Yet, 1 in 6 Americans doesn't have enough to eat, says the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And food waste costs us about $165 billion a year and sucks up 25 percent of our freshwater supply. That's all according to the report with the not-so-subtle title, "Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill," just released by the Natural Resources Defense Council. As we've reported, there are all kinds of offenders in this game, from restaurants to regular consumers and our refrigerators . But we thought we'd bring you some info on what some folks are doing to combat the waste and reroute the food whereFood Waste Is Overwhelming. Here Are Five Things People Are Doing About Ithttp://kwit.org/post/theres-too-much-food-waste-here-are-five-things-people-are-doing-about-it
12913 as http://kwit.orgWed, 22 Aug 2012 21:38:00 +0000Food Waste Is Overwhelming. Here Are Five Things People Are Doing About ItApril FultonThose eyes grab you first. Only after a couple of beats do you realize you're looking at the painted bottom of a flattened metal can left on the street, and not some mysterious fairy. These can art people come from the imagination of a British artist known as My Dog Sighs , who has left a piece of art on the street for someone to find every Friday for the last 10 years. Above, check out a small sampling of some of his work. Below, he talks with The Salt about where he gets those cans and his funny name. Why did you start painting faces on cans, as opposed to canvas or wood? I make art to go on the street as part of my Free Art Friday project. I cannot afford to put canvas out, so I was always looking for free materials. I do not want to be seen as leaving litter, so I began using litter that was already there. I collected it, painted it, and put it back more beautiful. One day, I found a can on the floor, and it just worked with a sketch I had been developing. (Click on the video A CanDiscarded Food Cans Turn Into Canvas For British Street Artisthttp://kwit.org/post/discarded-food-cans-turn-canvas-british-street-artist
11111 as http://kwit.orgWed, 18 Jul 2012 19:42:00 +0000Discarded Food Cans Turn Into Canvas For British Street Artist